Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto in action during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies, Saturday, May 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The New York Mets (32-17) won their weekend series against the Phillies with a dramatic sweep and now welcome another division rival to NYC as last-place Washington (18-31) comes to town.
The Nationals also won their weekend series, taking three of four at home against Colorado. Monday’s series opener at Citi Field is set for 7:15 p.m. ET, airing on MLB Network and locally in both markets.
The Mets will send LHP David Petersen (2-0, 2.16) to the mound against Nationals RHP Erik Fedde (3-3, 3.65). The Mets lead the season series 5-2, with all the games taking place so far in Washington. Last year, the Mets won the season series 11-8 with a 7-2 mark at home.
Nats More than Just Soto
The Nationals are 9-13 on the road this season and 6-10 against left-handed pitchers. They are 5-11 against teams from the NL East and 16-23 in games as the underdog.
Juan Soto homered on Sunday and got some help as Lane Thomas went deep, and Carlos Hernandez had two hits with a RBI. Victor Robles had a big series against Colorado with a six RBI game and six hits in the four games. Nelson Crus is also showing signs of coming around with three doubles in the series against Colorado, while Hernandez picked up three more doubles.
Hernandez is batting .287, just behind Josh Bell’s .289. Soto leads the team with nine homers but has just 16 RBI and a .236 average. Cruz has 27 RBI while Bell has drive in 25, and Maikel Franco has 14 double to go with 23 RBI.
Fedde got the win on Wednesday against the Dodgers with six shutout innings as he allowed four hits and struck out six. He has worked at least 5⅔ innings in five of his last six starts and struck out 42 on the season in 45⅔ innings. On the road, he is 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA this season, allowing just one home run in 23⅔ innings.
Fedde took a no-decision against the Mets in April with two runs allowed over five innings, and he was 0-1 in four starts against them last year. Francisco Lindor is 3-for-12 with a homer against Fedde, while both Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil are 6-for-14.
Mets Just Keep Winning
The Mets are 23-18 as the favorites this season with a 16-8 overall home record. They are 26-9 against RHP and 16-7 against NL East opponents.
New York seems to have a different hero each game. Sunday night, rookie Nick Plummer’s first MLB hit was a game-tying home run in the ninth before Eduardo Escobar delivered the walk-off hit in the 10th inning. Luis Guilorme has taken over the leadoff role and had two hits Sunday, as did Starling Marte.
Guillorme is batting .355, and McNeil is batting .317 on the season. Alonso leads the Mets with 12 homers and 46 RBI, while Lindor has eight homers and 38 RBI. Escobar and McNeil both had 13 doubles, and Lindor has scored 37 runs on the season.
Petersen returned from the IL last week to make his first start since May 3. He beat San Francisco with two runs allowed over six innings on Tuesday. Overall this season, he has 22 strikeouts and nine walks in 25 innings of work.
Petersen is 2-0 in three career starts against the Nationals, allowing just two earned runs in 16 ⅔ innings. He’s only faced four current Nationals batters, with Maikel Franco going 1-for-2 and Soto going 1-for-4. Bell and Robles are both hitless in a combined six at bats.
Betting Analysis
- Washington Nationals +1.5 run line (-130). +160 Moneyline
- New York Mets -1.5 run line (+110). -160 Moneyline
- Run Total: 8.5 Over -115. Under -105.
The Mets have a team ERA of 3.70 and a team WHIP of 1.18 as they just don’t allow teams to get on base or score many runs. They are comfortable playing from behind or with the lead, given their talented bullpen. Washington has struggled on the road this season, and against Peterson, so the advantages in the series opener all point to another Mets win.
Betting Pick: Mets -1.5 (+110)
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